You know that mustache you grew to raise awareness for prostate cancer as part of the “Movember” movement? Well, it just crushed Procter & Gamble’s (PG) business.

At least, that’s what the executives want us to believe.

Last Friday, Chief Financial Officer, Jon Moeller, tried to pin the company’s disappointing results for its grooming business on the fact that four million men ditched shaving for a month.

Puh-lease!

What’s next, Jon, the dog ate your homework?

I don’t expect this to be the last excuse offered up on an earnings call, either.

Thanks to the record cold temperatures that much of the country has been enduring for a solid month, I’m sure that the weather will get blamed a few times, too.

Why bring any of this up?

Because we’re about to get bombarded with earnings. This week alone, over 225 companies are scheduled to report results.

While I want you to be on the lookout for the most laughable excuses (please submit your candidates for consideration here), I also want to make sure that you understand why individual earnings reports are more important than they’ve ever been this entire bull market.

In the process, I promise to share one corner of the market that’s poised for outsized gains. Even if the broader market continues to stumble. So let’s get to it…

A Stock Picker’s Market

When it comes to discerning the future direction for the stock market, I typically tell you to focus on the averages. Specifically, the average percentage of companies that beat earnings expectations.

Not only did it beat earnings expectations by tripling profits in the last quarter, it raised expectations for the next quarter. Shares jumped more than 24% on the news. And therein lies the opportunity for us…

Keep Betting on Tech

As investors scrutinize individual company results, earnings season is yielding clear-cut losers and winners. In such an environment, we need to tip the odds in our favor by focusing on the corner of the market with the highest probability of winners.

And that distinction belongs solely to the technology sector.

There’s no arguing with the data…

According to FactSet, a chart-topping 85% of technology companies have reported better-than-expected earnings and sales this quarter.

Not only that, but the technology sector is reporting the largest increase in earnings growth out of any sectors.

Bottom line: In this jittery and excuse-laden market, companies in the technology sector keep putting up impressive profit growth. That should translate into big profits for investors, too. So keep betting big on tech.

Machine-learning algorithms are cleverly downloading faces from social media pages like Facebook… and then uploading those faces to unsavory videos. This is the latest example of technology moving faster than our moral ability to use it.

One mystery trader just rolled over a massive volatility bet that could pay out $260 million if he’s right again. Can you blame him? He’s got seven-plus years of the bull trend on his side. Well, none of that means squat if you’re Goldman Sachs.